Buddhist Meditation

Buddhist Meditation consists of two aspects and are called ‘Samatha’ and ‘Vipassana’. If you are a beginning meditator, Samantha meditation is your starting point .

Samatha
‘Samatha’ can be translated as ‘concentration’ or ‘tranquility’. It is a state in which the mind is brought to rest, focused only on one item and not allowed to wander. This sounds pretty easy. But as first you will find that your mind keeps wondering off.  As a matter of fact you will be surprised at how quickly your mind get’s distracted and starts following a thought that popped in your head. When this happens simply bring your focus back to your chosen object of attention.  Like a wild horse that is being harnessed for the first time, you will notice how little control you actually have over your own mind. This is what you are practicing.

As you keep raining in your thoughts, moments of mental silence start to emerge. Eventually a deep calm start to pervade your body and mind.  During this type of Buddhist Meditation you focus upon a specific item, such as your breath, a candle flame, a religious image or whatever, and excludes all other thoughts and perceptions from your consciousness. The result is a newfound stillness, clarity and peace.

If you find that youself nervous, distracted, worried or even overwhelmed at times, this practice is the perfect remedy and will calm your mind and bring your mind back home.

Take 2 minutes, and download our free guided meditation.

Vipassana
Vipassana can also be translated as clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens. You should first become experienced with ‘Samatha’ meditation in order to be able use your ability to keep the mind from wondering. The resulting stillness, clarity and awareness will pave the way to what is really happening, without the distracting mind chatter that cuts you off from the living light of reality. It is a gradual process of ever-increasing awareness and into the inner workings of reality itself. Vipassana meditation is a practice, meaning you need to keep doing it on a regular basis in order to start seeing the benefits. But one day you will have chiseled through that wall of mental noise and tumble into the presence of light, in to the present moment. The transformation is complete. It’s what Buddhists call liberation and is the goal of all Buddhist Meditation practices.

Liberation from what?

Life seems to be a perpetual struggle, some enormous effort against staggering odds. We get stuck in the ‘ If only’ syndrome. If only I had more money, then I would be happy. If only I can find somebody who really loves me, if only I can lose 20 pounds, if only I had a color TV, Jacuzzi, and curly hair, and on and on forever. So where does this mindset come from and more important, what can we do about it? It comes from the conditions of our own minds. It is deep, subtle and pervasive set of mental habits that we have built up bit by bit and we can unravel just the same way, one piece at a time. It is probably the most important task that you can take in this life.

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